NGO Calls Attention To Lagos Govt. Evictions Of Informal Settlers

A not-for-profit organisation, the Justice and Empowerment Initiatives - Nigeria will Tuesday join evictees of informal settlements from various parts of Lagos in "a peaceful protest". In an e-mail sent out by the NGO's co-founder/co-director Megan Chapman, the Nigerian Slum / Informal Settlement Federation will join "traders displaced from the recent evictions in Ikoyi, VI, and Lekki, as well as fishermen evicted from Ilubirin last week Monday" in a solidarity march. The march will terminate at the Tarfawa Balewa Square, on the Lagos Island, with a press conference. The group said their demands will be submitted to state Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and the Lagos House of Assembly.

The Lagos State Government under former governor Babatunde Fashola took over Ilubirin - part of the Lagos Lagoon, along Osbourne Road, Ikoyi - and forcefully ejected the fishermen settlers and their families who were the historical occupiers of the area. The government thereafter reclaimed the about 15.4 hectares of land, where it is currently erecting the Ilubirin Foreshore Estate. The construction, the government said, is part of its Home Ownership Mortage Scheme (HOMS) - a social scheme for creating mass housing. However, the evictees, like many others ejected from Ikoyi, Victorial Island, Ijora Badia, etc, were not provided any alternative accomodation. or places to relocate to.